"About the twins, can I ask you something?" Calum inquired.
"Sure." Kemps answered.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52508107743_3cf1d187e8_b.jpg"With your permission, I'd like to give them a chance to go on land and spend some time with humans." Calum smiled at the idea. "I think it would be good for them if they had more experience around them. It's already been a couple decades since they were born..."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52507556561_162f8a12af_b.jpg"Absolutely not." Kemps waved off the idea. "It's dangerous, especially for them."
"Kemps, the twins will go on land on their own one day. It's better if they get a chance to learn about humans sooner than later."
"They are just merboys, children. They shouldn't leave the sea yet."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52507074807_b87f947fc3_b.jpg"Kemps, you know that I met their mother on land. I can look after them and guide them."
"I don't know. Arihi wasn't a human to begin with."
"She's a Spirit of the Islands, an Island Elemental that gave up her place in the spirit realm to live with me in the sea," Calum said. "She made that choice after you forbid our family from returning to the land."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52507556521_d7be9fd303_b.jpg"All the more reason to keep them in the sea where it's safe." Kemps made up his mind.
"Why? When they were born from me and Arihi's songs, they inherited my tail and their mother's elemental powers. They are more than just young mermen."
"I still don't think it's safe. They still need to learn how to use their powers responsibly."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52508107713_52023737ca_b.jpg"It's a struggle. I get it. The land was ruined by humans. While most of our kind fled, we stayed because it's our family's responsibility to protect the sea."
"The twins are mermen. They will inherit our family's resposnbility as all the mermen in our family have. But, they also inheirted their mother's responsibility to the Land. They didn't choose any of this, but when their mother became a mermaid, she passed the mantle onto them."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52508107668_912751fba4_b.jpg"We will never die from old age. How many years will it take for you to finally change your mind. It's already been more than twenty years since you forbid taking human form." Calum argued. "At this rate, the pollution from the land will wash into the sea and be the end of us and all our kind."
"You aren't wrong. Mua Pel'Am is impossible to swim around without getting sick."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52507828224_76f0196583_b.jpg"But, how will sending the twins on land change anything. What can we do to change anything? The humans abandoned the islands. Given enough time, the sea can recover."
"How long can our kind endure the pollution washing into the sea? There's so much that the humans left on land and no guarantee that waiting for nature to take its course will fix anything."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52508107653_ebbc593f0d_b.jpgKemps's expression lightened up. "You really want to return to the land don't you."
"Well, I won't lie. I miss the time I spent on land."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52508030580_453fb618fb_b.jpg"I give. It's been a long time without anything getting better." Kemps smiled. "We'll give your way a chance."
"Thank you. I think we can make a difference this way."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52507074737_0cb9797b04_b.jpg"You can be such a morbid drama llama sometimes." Kemps remarked.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52507556441_55cebc6350_b.jpg"But, I've been thinking some of the same things lately."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52508107618_53b11b4749_b.jpg"So, what's your genius plan?" Kemps asked.
"I'm thinking we can keep the twins safe from pollution by sending them to a human high school. There they can learn about humans and how they live. While they are away, we can try to do something about the ruins. The humans won't return to clean up their own mess. We have to do something."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52507828364_e2b9432194_b.jpg"That's all well and good, but what's going to stop the humans from coming back when things are better."
"The humans will return, and that's why the twins need to learn how to blend in with them. Maybe, we could spread some awareness about how pollution hurts the sea and the islands."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52507828359_b48447b705_b.jpg"Well, I'll follow your lead on this one for now. I'll see what I can do about cleaning up the island, but you need to convince the humans to stop polluting the sea. If the humans don't change, we will be right back where we started. The humans won't have to live through what we will."
"Maybe, maybe they will care enough about what their children will live through to change."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52507556391_1c202d3954_b.jpg"It's possible, but I'm not sure. Humans are quick to forget and slow to remember. Every generation will have to learn from mistakes made in the past. Every generation will have to remember the consequences of not caring about the environment, the world they live in."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52507074657_63775d5461_b.jpg"We can be the ones that remind them. We are the Guardians of the Sea. It's the responsbility of all Zalrian Mermen to protect the oceans. I think teaching others the value of protecting our worlds is a good way to live up to what we are meant to do."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52507828114_0365f8b921_b.jpg"We can make a difference!" Calum enthused. "We just have to keep trying."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52507828104_968f743b70_b.jpg"I believe you, and I have faith in you." Kemps said. "And, because I have faith in you, I will give humans another chance."
"Thank you Kemps," Calum said. "You've done so much already to protect us. But, we can't hide in a shell like a clam forever."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52508030480_fc53f4d92c_b.jpg"The world is bigger than the seas around Sulani. The twins will need to experience it."
"It's the best way we can protect them. We have to teach them to swim on their own."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52507074562_b7f1eb11d1_b.jpg"Of course, it's going to be up to you. As the Patriarch of the Zalrians, I give you my blessing to guide the twins as they take their first steps in the human world."
"I won't let you down." Calum thanked his older brother.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52507074552_8700f8089c_b.jpg"Now, I think we need to take a day or two to learn how to walk again." Kemps joked.
"True, we haven't used our human forms in a long time." Calum laughed.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52508030365_a2a98028be_b.jpg
